Angelina Jolie reveals once-in-lifetime Salma Hayek bond

Angelina Jolie has revealed her friendship with Salma Hayek Pinault has given her a connection unlike any she has experienced before as their deeply personal film Without Blood finally reaches cinemas.

The actress and director, 51, helmed and co-wrote the adaptation of Alessandro Baricco’s novella, which stars Salma, 60, alongside Demián Bichir and opened in US cinemas on 18 September.

The drama, which first premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2024, follows two people confronting the consequences of violence decades after an unnamed war.

Angelina and Salma previously appeared together in Marvel’s Eternals in 2021.

Speaking to People about working with Angelina again, Salma said: “(Our conversations on set were) delicious (and) very organic.”

She added: “I love her mind and I get her. So I think when you know somebody gets you, you feel safe and you can be whoever you are in whatever circumstances.”

Angelina said: “I think it’s so nice we met at this later stage in our life.

“Because we’ve been through so many similar things, experienced different things, and somehow have landed as older women in a very similar place.”

The Oscar-winning actress added: “To appreciate that friendship and that bond and that understanding – I haven’t had that kind of a connection in my life.”

Salma agreed: “It’s hard to find that connection. And I think that’s what part of the movie is also about, how difficult it is to communicate, to connect.”

In Without Blood, Salma plays Nina, who encounters Demián’s Tito decades after an act of violence during an unspecified conflict.

The film was shot in Italy and explores war, memory, trauma and the possibility of healing.

Angelina wrote the screenplay with Alessandro, and also produced the film.

Salma said their conversations while making the film could become highly emotional.